Gordon Waddell: Celtic must work hard to lure their next manager if they want to land a big hitter

GORDON says the Parkhead club must make the job of Celtic boss appeal to the right candidate.

Malky Mackay may be interested in the Celtic job if the terms and conditions are right for him

SOUNDS ridiculous, right? That Celtic would have to sell themselves to managers rather than the other way around.

That it would be an effort to make a guaranteed league title and guaranteed European football sound attractive.

That their chief exec would be the interviewee, not the interviewer.

Even that the champions of Scotland, global brand that they are, could be seen as little more than a potential rehab centre for damaged-down-south reputations.

But that’s where they’re at. And make no mistake, it’s a critical juncture.

It’s not about the right guy applying for the job. It’s about making the job appeal to the right guy.

The burden of proof lies with Celtic, not with the manager.

A million miles away from the last time they were in the marketplace.

They struck it lucky then because they knew they had a rough diamond in Neil Lennon on tap, one who has been allowed to polish himself to a real shine on the job, and one they also had over a barrel in terms of a salary because he was so desperate for the opportunity.

Not this time. This time they have the burden of finding a boss who not only ticks the boxes on the field but has commercial appeal off it.

Having extended their season-ticket deadline already this week, the last thing they need is to wheel someone out of leftfield, a Wim Jansen, who’s not going to have the fans queueing out the door and round the block.

Then again, the problem when you go to the opposite extreme of Henrik Larsson is that he’ll have them dancing in the aisles with sentiment, without showing a single shred of evidence he’s actually capable of managing them.

Which is why they’re going to have to think big – and hope that their target has some motivation.

And that could be their biggest problem. The credibility gap.

Once managers have had a flavour of life in England, they tend to look down their noses at coming up the road.

Okay, it didn’t stop Martin O’Neill or Gordon Strachan – but then, the seven figure salaries and, particularly in O'Neill’s case, the multi-million pound budget, were a pretty large carrot.

Whereas now, the outgoing manager’s salary barely outstrips that of the current Huddersfield boss. So if you want to attract a Davie Moyes, or a Malky Mackay, you’re going to have to rely on more than just a tug at the heartstrings.

There was also the question of competition. Back then, Celtic HAD to push the boat out to get the best because anything less than that – and even sometimes with it – would cost them the title. Again, no longer the case. So put yourself in Moyes’ shoes.

On the plus side? Being Celtic manager would get the “He’s won nothing” monkey off his back. He’d have a couple of years to get his reputation back to where it was before his season of torture at Old Trafford.

Then again, he could come in and be getting harangued for failure inside two months for not guiding them through three qualifiers and into the Champions League groups, the only unit of currency currently worth anything to them.

And if you don’t think that should be a worry, why was it one of the dealbreakers for Lennon?

Why wasn’t he prepared to put his own stock on the line for the risk involved? Dropping budgets and diminishing squad quality due to player sales, yet the same expectations? An eternally tough gig.

Which is why Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell know they have to make it worth a big hitter’s while.

Yet at the same time, they’re rightly very precious about being seen to be getting knocked back – so the dance is a careful one, establishing whether a person would say yes before he has even been asked a question.

Me? I’d still be going for Mackay. I’ve seen the way he worked at Watford and at Cardiff. He’s a leader, an organiser, a strategist. He’s eloquent, presentable, qualified to the hilt.

He also needs an opportunity. One that he hoped would come in the Premier League but the longer he waits, the more he’ll have to ask himself about taking another route. Which makes him gettable – at a price. Will he put bums on seats? A few maybe.

But the truth for Celtic is it won’t be them bringing in the perfect manager who will sell season tickets for their domestic day-to-day.

It’ll be competition. It’ll be fear. It’ll be them looking over their shoulder and knowing that the small margins, like a full stadium and vocal backing, will make a difference.